The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Styrax or Weeping Japanese Snowbell that is grown for use as a small tree. It is known botanically as Styrax japonicus and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘FRAGRANT FOUNTAIN’.
‘FRAGRANT FOUNTAIN’ is the product of a breeding program started by the inventor in a cultivated area of Mollala, Oreg. The primary focus of the breeding program is to produce new cultivars of shrubs and trees with attractive foliage.
Seed was collected from Styrax japonicus ‘Rosea’ (unpatented), which is the female parent, in 1994 and germinated in 1996. From this batch of seedlings, ‘Fragrant Fountain’ was selected. As ‘Fragrant Fountain’ possesses a weeping habit, the inventor considers that the male parent was Styrax japonicus ‘Carillon’ (unpatented), another cultivar which possesses a weeping habit and was being grown by the inventor at the time the seed was collected.
‘FRAGRANT FOUNTAIN’ exhibits a strongly weeping form, very pronounced fragrance, and is faster growing than other cultivars known to the inventor, including the parent plants ‘Rosea’ and ‘Carillon’.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the inventor in 2000 in a cultivated area of Molalla, Oreg. The method of asexual propagation used was softwood cuttings. Since that time the characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.